U-19 WC: Afghanistan, Bangladesh advance to quarterfinals

Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan won their respective matches on Saturday at the ICC U-19 World Cup.

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE: After a day's break, the U-19 World Cup resumes again on January 25.

Bangladesh triumphed in a must-win game to make it to the quarterfinals of the U-19 World Cup, beating UAE by nine wickets (DLS method).

Bangladesh’s bowlers worked in tandem to restrict UAE to 148. The defending champion then overhauled the target with 61 balls to spare on Saturday.

ALSO READ - U-19 WC: India hammers Uganda, tops group

Put in to bat, the UAE slipped to eight for two inside three overs. Dhruv Parashar and captain Alishan Sharafu then combined to steady the ship, adding 44 runs for the third wicket. Punya Mehra then top-scored with 43 but could not find a partner to stay with him as the final seven wickets fell for 98 runs. Ripon Mondol had the best figures among all Bangladesh bowlers, with 3 for 31.

The Bangladesh top order broke no sweat during the chase, the first wicket falling with only 25 runs left to get.

Bangladesh’s next assignment is the quarterfinal against India on January 29.

Afghanistan edges out Zimbabwe

Captain Suliman Safi helped Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by 109 runs to make it to the quarterfinals from Group C.

Safi scored 111 (118b, 14x4 3x6) to help Afghanistan score 261 for six as he was dismissed on the final ball of the innings. The Afghan bowlers, led by spinner Nangeyalia Khan (4 for 30), bowled out Zimbabwe for 152 in 36.4 overs.

Alex Falao was the pick of the bowlers for Zimbabwe as he took three for 54 from his 10 overs to move on to eight wickets for the tournament so far. Matthew Welch top-scored for Zimbabwe, scoring 53. He was among three batters to score in double digits.

Left-arm spinner Nangeyalia Kharote was the most successful Afghanistan bowler, picking four wickets.

Also in Group C, Pakistan beat Papua New Guinea by nine wickets. Muhammad Shehzad took five wickets and Ahmed Khan took three as PNG was bowled out for 50 in 22.4 overs. Pakistan chased the total down for the loss of one wicket.

Pakistan takes on Australia next, on January 28.

• UAE U-19s 148 in 48.1 overs (Mehra 43) lost to Bangladesh U-19s 110 for 1 in 24.5 overs (Islam 64) (DLS method)
• Afghanistan U-19s 261 for 6 in 50 overs (Safi 111, Kharote 50) beat Zimbabwe U-19s 152 in 36.4 overs (Welch 53, Kharote 4 for 31)
• Papua New Guinea U-19s 50 in 22.4 overs (Shehzad 5 for 7) lost to Pakistan U-19s 51 for 1 in 12 overs